Nel is desperate - Roux

Pretoria - The prosecutor in murder accused Oscar
Pistorius's trial is "desperate and naughty", Advocate Barry Roux for
Pistorius, told the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday.

"Mr Nel is desperate. I have a lot of respect for Mr
Nel and his experience," Roux said, referring to prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Roux said Nel had submitted evidence in his closing
arguments based on an interview on a Pretoria radio station.

He said Nel knew it was wrong and was being naughty
because the prosecution lacked evidence.

"You cannot quote a radio and say this is
evidence... The hole is too big. He had to refer to a radio station," Roux
said.

"The State fetched cases from another
jurisdiction... It was to create this atmosphere, knowing its
deficiencies," he said.

Pistorius is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva
Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year.

He shot her through the locked door of his toilet at his
Pretoria home.

Pistorius has denied guilt, saying he thought she was an
intruder about to open the door and attack him. The State contends he shot her
during an argument and it was premeditated.

Pistorius is also charged with three contraventions of
the Firearms Control Act, one of illegal possession of ammunition and two of
discharging a firearm in public. He has also pleaded not guilty to these
charges.

In his closing arguments on Friday, Roux said the court
should find that Pistorius's version of events could not be rejected.

Pistorius was not the same as normal people when faced
with danger because he could not run away when he was on his stumps.

"You know I cannot run away... There is a constant
reminder that I do not have legs, I cannot run away, I am not the same - that's
with him," Roux said.

"He can pretend. He can pretend that he is fine. We
must understand."

He said Pistorius was anxious and vulnerable and
confronted the danger.

Scene contaminated

Roux referred to Hilton Botha, the initial investigator
who was dropped from the case last year after he admitted to contaminating the
scene.

Roux said the State had Botha give evidence during the
bail application that Pistorius put on his prostheses and shot Steenkamp in cold
blood.

He said Botha had conceded that his evidence was not
based on professional input. Roux said this had led to Pistorius becoming
argumentative during cross-examination by Nel.

"We need to expose this to the court. Expose the
submissions made. Consider the accused," he said.

"Was he many times argumentative, yes my lady.
Should he have been? Absolutely not," Roux said.

Pistorius allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol
under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013. On 30 September 2012
he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while
driving with friends in Modderfontein.

Roux argued that the two witnesses who testified to the
incidents - Pistorius's former friend Darren Fresco and ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor
- both had motives to implicate
Pistorius.

He said Fresco was an accomplice and wanted to
incriminate the athlete while Taylor told the court he cheated on her with
Steenkamp.